Celtics finish season with RSC road trip

February 19, 2017

The Carlow men’s basketball team wrapped up the season with River States Conference losses to No. 11 West Virginia Tech and University of Rio Grande (Ohio) on a weekend road trip.

The Celtics fell, 139-72, to the Golden Bears (22-7/14-3 RSC) on Friday and, 95-73, to the RedStorm (13-17/8-9 RSC) on Saturday.

Carlow (4-26/3-14 RSC) played both games without leading scorer Charlie Scharbo (JR/Jefferson Hills, Pa.), who recently surpassed the 1,000-career point mark. He finished the season averaging 17 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.35 blocks per game, and shooting 52.8 percent (169-320) from the floor — all team-highs.

The Celtics struggled to keep up on the boards and allowed high-percentage shooting in each of their final two contests.

The Golden Bears shot 62.7 percent (47-75) from the floor and 67.9 percent (19-28) from 3 and outrebounded the Celtics, 56-19.

The Celtics defeated the RedStorm, 76-53, on December 3 for their first RSC win of the season. However, Rio Grande got hot late, finishing the regular season by winning seven of its last 11 contests.

This time, the RedStorm shot 47.8 percent (33-69) from the floor and 56.3 percent (9-16) from 3 and won the rebounding battle, 53-31. PJ McLaughlin (SR/Irwin, Pa.) finished his career with 11 points and six rebounds against the Golden Bears and 24 points and nine rebounds against the RedStorm. John LeGrande (SR/Pittsburgh, Pa.), who missed the majority of the season with injury, returned to the lineup for his final two contests. He had seven points, four rebounds and a game-high three blocks against the RedStorm.

Against Rio Grande, Jacob St. George (SO/Monaca, Pa.) had 14 points and five assists and Sunder had 10 points and two steals.

The Celtics finished the season with a program-high three RSC wins, including a 75-74 overtime win against crosstown foe Point Park, and remained in the conference playoff hunt for the majority of the season. They also earned a win against an NCAA Division II opponent (Ohio Valley University).